Echoes of the End
by Nomi's Secret
Summary: Pity is taken on Gabriel; he is resurrected but it seems that there is a plan for him. Is it to save the soul of a hunter or to protect a potential vessel from vengeful angels and demons alike? And secondly, who brought him back? Gabriel/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Echoes of the End**

_**Summary: **__Pity is taken on Gabriel; he is resurrected but it seems that there is a plan for him. Is it to save the soul of a hunter or to protect a potential vessel from vengeful angels and demons alike? And secondly, who brought him back?_

_**Author's Note: **__Although Gabe had an important part in Marked I feel that he should get his own fic and be the centre of attention just the way he likes it. This was actually inspired by the Florence and the Machine- Drumming Song, amongst others._

_**Disclaimer : **__Unfortunately, I do not own any concepts or characters from Supernatural so please don't sue me.___

**Chapter One**

A soft drop of water hit him just above the left eye. It trickled down, running along his skin and was pulled by gravity into the dip created by the eye socket. It collected itself briefly at the corner where his lids ended. Another drop and then another and then a fourth fell onto his face.

Soon there was a gentle pitter-patter as the water hit his skin and clothes. They bounced lightly before settling and being absorbed into his pale skin or by the cloth or rolling down the many gradients that the body provided. His muscles reacted to the irritation by flinching minutely.

It wasn't long before the man's clothes were desperately wet. His light hair became darker because of the molecules of rain water that collected in it. Water pooled in the dips and cracks that were in the old tarmac he was laying on. Some of the water tried to escape into the soil while some hesitated on the surface.

A single rain drop hit him directly in the eye. His facial muscles tensed and released as the drop wet his lashes before rolling away. It started to bring him around from his comatose state. His breathing became deeper and his chest rose a little more as it tried to lift the heavy clothing resting there. His body settled then as it grew accustomed to the change in weight. His breathing grew shallow again.

Then another landed harshly in the same eye. This time the water seeped through into his eye. His eyelids fluttered manically as his body automatically reacted. His lip twitched and water dripped into his mouth. His jaw tensed.

Slowly, deliberately he opened his eyes.

His hazel eyes took in the fact that he was staring up at a large, grey raincloud. He raised his eyebrows a little then frowned. It didn't make sense. _Where_ was he?

There was a dull ringing in his ear and voices that he couldn't understand hissing and murmuring to each other like a vicious game of Chinese Whispers. He could do naught but listen to them. They seemed to be everywhere around him and their voices riveted around his skull.

He looked to his right and the rough tarmac grazed against his skin. He not only felt it but he also felt the slight, intense pain that came with it. He winced at the unexpected irritation. He turned his head to look left this time being wary of the jagged human building material below him.

He couldn't see much, there had just been more tarmac. And after the tarmac there had been fields. He hadn't been able to see any further which was odd.

The voices faded then. He was able to think without their racket distracting him. He was able to hear the world then. The sound of a truck speeding past made him look skyward again. He pulled himself up into a sitting position.

He then stood tall. He found that he had been laid in the middle of a freeway. In fact, he was in the wide Median separating the two sides of the road. He rubbed his eyes warily and wondered exactly how the hell he had gotten there.

Several cars honked and beeped at him for being where he was.

"Yeah, yeah!" he shouted back, "I don't know why I'm here either..."

He decided to try and figure out that conundrum later. At the moment, he had to get out of the middle of the road before someone decided to call the cops. He stretched skywards and found that his clothes were sticking to him like glue. He wasn't that bothered, pretty soon he would be in a nice penthouse somewhere with some hotties in bikinis.

He raised his hand so it was level with his face. He smiled happily as he closed his eyes and snapped his thumb and middle finger together. What he expected was silence, warm clothes and soft fingers caressing his face.

However, that is definitely not what he got. Cars continued to honk and the rain continued to fall. He opened his eyes and frowned before examining his hand. He tried it again and again to no avail. He was still stuck in the middle of a damn freeway. He lowered his hand and pursed his lips trying to think of what could have happened to him.

He looked skywards and asked, "So what? Am I supposed to be wearing ruby slippers, clicking my heels and saying 'there's no place like home'?"

Of course, the father he had been directing the question at didn't answer. He never answered these days.

He scoffed. "Not that I'm going back there anytime soon..."

So his powers had deserted him and the last thing he remembered was seeing the look of hope on that muttonhead's face as he hid out in the back of that car away from Kali. And he could also feel pain, heck he could feel it before but it hadn't exactly hurt as much. He rubbed the side of his face where a patchwork graze sat and glanced at either side of him. He'd obviously suffered a bit of memory loss. He'd figure everything out later.

So if his powers weren't working then he couldn't just magic himself out of the road without being seriously injured which was quite the possibility at the moment. First he had to decide which side of the road to cross. Was he going to risk the left side or the right side?

He decided on the road to his right. He walked to the edge of the safe zone, or rather the zone where you had a slight chance of not being run over. There were three lanes that he had to try and dodge before he would reach the edge of the road. At least when he got there he wouldn't be so obvious to any passing police car.

The stream of traffic was unreliable. Sometimes there were barely any cars and then there would suddenly be too many for him to risk. For the first time in his eternity of a lifetime he found himself being very vary and careful of what he was doing. The tarmac wasn't something that would be particularly easy to run over. The rain had gotten heavier and there were potholes and puddles scattered everywhere over the road.

Finally there was only one car that was speeding down the freeway and he took his chance, thinking that he could make it to the other side before the driver in the car even knew what was going on. He almost jumped over the barrier that separated the median from this side of the road and ran. He cleared two out of three lanes without any problems although the last lane proved to be more of an issue than he would have liked. He saw the green blur in his peripheral vision speeding towards him just as he entered that lane.

The driver hit the brake and the car came to a halt no further than a few inches from his body. He stopped and looked gingerly at the female driver. He gave her a quick smile and a wave before taking off again. The woman was left staring blankly out at him as two young children in the back of the Volvo began to cry.

When he came to the wayside with nothing more than a scare he was thankful. He took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck. The rain had fully soaked him now. His hair clung to the nape of his neck and his forehead. He swept his hair back in one quick motion only to shake free a few drops that rolled down his neck and his back.

"Okay, this isn't funny anymore," he huffed to no one in particular.

Of course, no one answered him. The rain continued to pour down upon him. He stood still at the side of the road for a few moments, looking up and down the length of the road. In the end he decided to walk the way that the cars were travelling. He had to come across a town or a village or something at some point, this damn highway couldn't just go on forever, could it?

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and with his head down he started to walk. He put one foot in front of the other for who knows how long. He wandered along the small strip of tarmac that was reserved for cars that had broken down or for drivers who needed a break.

Eventually, this strip of tarmac ran out and he either had to risk the slow lane or walk in the soil next to the road that had actually turned into mud. He chose the slow lane. The road wasn't all that busy and he could always dodge into the mud if he thought a car was going to knock him over.

_-EOTE-_

He wasn't sure how long he had been walking. His mind had just emptied itself of all of its usual thoughts and settled on the walk ahead. He looked up when he passed under a sign saying 'Muncie, 26 miles'. He had another twenty six miles to go before he hit a town? Now that was just taking the biscuit.

He came to a halt just after the sign and realised that he could really do with having a biscuit. One covered in chocolate with a nice, steaming cup of cocoa. The pleasant image he had in his mind of him sat somewhere nice and warm and dry with some biscuits and cocoa was disturbed when a truck hit a nearby pothole full of water and covered him with the contents. This included not only water but also mud.

He wiped his face and scowled. He was going to have to deal out some serious karma when he figured out what was going on and got his powers back.

"Okay," he sighed angrily, "that's it. I want to go somewhere nice, I don't want to be stuck on this freakin' highway in the rain and covered in mud. Do you think you can sort all of that out for me?"

Even a mentally impaired banana could have sensed the sarcasm coming off of the question. He continued to walk, this time deciding to trudge along in the mud.

"Hey!" a voice shouted behind him, "you need a ride?"

He turned around bemused and found another trucker leaning out of his passenger window a few feet back. The man was old and close to retirement age. He regarded him suspiciously.

"Where you headin'?" the trucker asked him.

"I, ugh..." He didn't have an answer then he recalled the name of a town on the sound he had passed only a couple of moments ago, "Muncie."

"You're lucky!" The man laughed and beckoned him closer.

Lucky was the last thing that he was at the moment. Amnesia, no powers and being stuck on an unknown highway soaking wet was not his idea of lucky.

He looked around then approached the truck with narrowed eyes, "Why am I?"

"I'm headin' that way." The grizzly man grinned at him and kicked the passenger door open. After a few seconds he asked, "You gettin' in or walkin' all that way?"

He decided that he didn't have anything to lose and he hauled himself up into the truck. He slammed the door shut behind him. It was warm inside the compartment and there was no longer any rain falling onto him. He couldn't help but wonder if someone had heard his plea after all.

"Thanks," he told the human sitting next to him.

"Oh, no problem." The man smiled over at him as he pulled out of what little there was of the lay side and back into the lane.

He pulled down the visor in the hopes that there was a mirror was there. It was and he looked intently at his reflection. He noticed that the graze on the side of his face still hadn't healed. He was in deep trouble now. Something big was very, very wrong.

He sighed snapping the visor back into place and sitting back. The padded seat was like an old lover, knowing all the right places to support and caress. He folded his arms and began chewing his lower lip. He was still having cravings. The inside of the compartment was cosy and little stuffed animals were scattered everywhere. Most of them were some breed of dog. He could spot several Dalmatians, spaniels and sheepdogs as well as many others.

Okay, that's a little creepy, he thought.

"They're my granddaughters," the old man told him as he saw him examining the cuddly toys with his eyes, "they're going through a dog phase at the moment."

He nodded warily. "Oh, right."

A song came on the radio. It was one that he hadn't heard before. It was going on about something to do with dirty pictures and taking them. He rolled his eyes and glanced out of the window. The rain was starting to get lighter and the clouds above them had started to clear.

"What's your name, stranger?" the man asked, grabbing his attention.

He considered whether to give his real name or not but he couldn't think of a decent, false one, "Gabriel..."

There was a sharp intake of breath. "Was your Mom religious or somethin'?"

"Never had a Mom." He told the truth.

"Ah, I'm sorry I-"

"Doesn't matter." He waved his hand, not really paying attention to what he was saying. After a few moments silence he realised that he had nothing to do apart from talk to the man. "What's your name?"

"Iain," he said, keeping his eyes fixed on the road ahead, "Iain Cook."

Gabriel nodded.

He asked, "What possessed ya to walk the length of the highway anyway?"

"I didn't have a choice," he answered and noticed that they had just passed a sign dictating that Muncie was roughly fifteen miles away now, "I just woke up."

"You woke up at the side of the highway?" Iain turned to him, aghast.

"Try in the middle of it."

"How'd you get there?"

He shrugged, "I probably pissed off the wrong person."

"Jeez, I hate to think what you did to them."

That made him think if he had done something to the Gods or maybe the Winchesters had knocked him out and dumped him there so they didn't have to deal with him?

What did it matter anyway, those two douche bags wouldn't be able to take his powers away. Not even Kali had the power to do that. Even the whole host of Heaven would have issues trying to take them away from him and he wouldn't just lie down and let them do it.

What had the Gods been talking about when Kali had decided to try and gank him with that fake sword of his? Oh yeah, they had been planning on killing Lucifer.

"Shit," he mumbled, when he realised what would have happened.

"What?" Iain asked him.

"I just remembered something," he whined. Chances are the Gods were dead, extinct, finger-paint.

"Something bad by the sound of it."

"Yeah, as bad as you can get."

The song on the radio slowly faded away so there was silence and a local radio DJ's voice blasted out of the speakers.

"Hello there!" the male voice started, "Thanks for joining us here at Muncie Q Radio. Just a reminder for all of you suffering from a hangover from yesterday, it's Saturday the fifth of March two zero eleven."

"Two zero eleven?" Gabe mouthed silently, "it's two thousand and eleven?"

"That's right, it's two thousand and eleven." The voice appeared to answer him with a chuckle, "Shortly we'll be going over to Sarah for the national and international news at twelve!"

There was a short introductory tune to the news part of the show.

A woman chuckled. "Thanks, Gareth, your enthusiasm always manages to brighten my day."

"Speak for yourself," Iain shook his head in distain.

"This is the News at Twelve with Sarah Bolger. The mayor of New York has opened a new elementary school just outside of the city. Internationally there have been two peace treaties signed, one in Libya and the other in Egypt between the government and rebel parties ensuring that they will work together to make their countries a better place. Locally, there have been no traffic incidents reported or any incidents at all apart from the usual drunken antics in the centre of town."

That didn't sound like the apocalypse, Gabriel thought.

"Elsewhere there has been an astonishing event where over two thousand dollars have been raised for charity. And we've just received news that an elderly woman from the southern area of Muncie has just fought off two muggers who attempted to steal her purse."

"That is definitely not the apocalypse," he pouted.

Iain cast him a worried look. "Excuse me?"

"Huh." He shook his head. "An in joke I have with some friends of mine."

The man nodded as music began to pump through the compartment again. The walkie talkie radio attached to the roof of the compartment began to crackle and whizz before a voice came through.

"Iain, you gotta make a stop for gas before you reach Cleveland?"

The man sat next to him yanked the black piece of equipment out of its holder and held it close to his mouth, "nah, I've got enough gas to make it there, why?"

"On a tight schedule, half the shipments haven't made it in yet. We're doing the rounds," he was told.

"Ten-four, I'll get there as soon as I can"

"Appreciate it" the voice crackled.

He rammed the box home and carried on driving. "These friends a yours...they nearby?"

Gabriel glanced at him. "Doubtful. Those muttonheads would have packed up months ago."

"Months, huh?"

"That's if they're not dead," he started.

The man looked at him blankly then laughed, "Oh it's a joke. I get it! Ha! Ha!"

He looked away. "Yeah, a _joke._"

They passed another sign. It was only another two miles till he would be in the middle of a town he didn't know. Apparently the apocalypse wasn't happening anymore. That meant that maybe dumb and dumber had managed it all by themselves or his Dad had stepped in at the final moment. At least his clothes and hair were starting to dry in the heat of the compartment. That was the only good thing he could think of at the moment.

He looked out of the window to his right as they passed a rundown motel. It looked deserted and was crumbling at the foundations. Faulty neon lights proclaimed the place to be called the Elysian Fields Hotel.

Gabe whistled, "I don't believe it."

"What?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he answered him turning away. A twinkle appeared in his eye. "Got any candy?"

"Check the glove compartment," the man with the bushy beard and hazel eyes told him.

He did as he was told and reached in. He found an opened fun-size packet of peanut M&Ms. It wasn't exactly what he had been wanting but he ate them nonetheless. He finished the rest of the packet in the matter of minutes.

"Damn, you eat fast," Iain said.

Gabriel nodded, "That's right, my bushy bro!"

Now that he had eaten, he felt more like himself. A troubled smile still sat on his face, however, as he tried to go through all the possible scenarios for what could have happened to send him months into the future and to stop the apocalypse. His eyebrow raised a little as he wondered who could have possibly stripped him bare and dumped him in the middle of the highway. There were only four beings that could possibly have the power to do that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews and favourites! I also forgot to thank Rachy in the last chapter, so thank you! Without our word wars I doubt I'll have written this fic.**

**Chapter Two**

The truck pulled into the town of Muncie at little after half past twelve. The town seemed normal but a little quiet for a Saturday afternoon. He assumed that humans stopped working at the weekend and went out and about to get drunk or whatever. The old brick houses sailed past as Iain took him into the centre of town.

"You wanting to go anywhere in particular?" the man asked as they slowed to a stop at a set of traffic lights.

Gabriel thought for a moment. Maybe he should go somewhere like a church to try and call the emergency line home or maybe he should just hang around at a bus stop until he figured out what to do next?

"Just drop me anywhere," he concluded with a sigh.

Iain nodded as the lights changed from a bloody red to flashing amber. He revved the truck a little until it changed to green, "Sure thing."

The centre of the town was just like that of any other town out this way. The buildings became taller the further in they went. Most were brick, however, and they didn't rise above eight stories by the look of it. The roads were a grid work pattern, he realised, with small and sometimes wide alley ways linking them behind the back of buildings and businesses.

When they reached the town square Iain pulled over at a suitable place which was outside the run down town hall. Gabriel ran his hand over his hair and picked curiously at his almost dry clothes before trying to open the door. It stuck fast though and suspicious eyes travelled to the driver.

He explained causally, "you need to kick it."

"Kick it?"

"Yeah, you do know how to kick right?"

"Funny," he seethed then kicked at the door only using a little effort. If he tried hard, chances are the door would end up shooting through the town hall and half way across town. He knew that in his state it probably would only come off the hinges but he didn't want to risk it.

A man in a tailored suit and thick rimmed glasses came marching out of the large wooden doors of the nearby town hall and watched them impatiently. His foot began to tap in a rhythm that only the man could hear.

The door swung open and the hinges tried to brace against the impact. The door bounced back a little so Gabriel had to throw his foot out again so it didn't snap shut. That's when he noticed the bureaucrat. In the old days, well, before the apocalypse happened he would have gladly taught that pesky little know-it-all a lesson to remember but he thought better of it now. The man huffed and folded his arms across his chest. It was still damn tempting though even if he didn't have any powers.

"Damn, you're strong," Iain remarked clearly oblivious to the man.

He sighed, "You have no idea."

He leaned out of the compartment and dropped himself down onto the cracked sidewalk with relative ease considering how high up the front of the truck was. Iain watched him slide out and noticed the bureaucrat nearby.

"Damn suits," he growled and turned the ignition. It connected with its own growl.

"Tell me about it," Gabriel rolled his eyes at the man. He took a step back from the vehicle and slammed the door shut with a deafening crack.

The old man waved at him wishing him luck. Gabriel knew that he needed all that he could get. It was going to be a hard life without his powers. He sighed and started off on his way.

Or he tried to. He looked around the square and wondered which way to go. He didn't think there were many places that he could go in this town but that didn't make it any easier. The man in the suit didn't move either and merely watched him pensively.

"Can I help you?" he asked in the end.

The man pushed his glasses further up his nose before walking back into the building huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf as he did. He knew he was going to have to keep an eye on that one.

He turned his eyes away from the building behind him and looked to the large pebble stoned square in front of him. There was a large tower war memorial in the middle with the various names of people from the town who had died in who knows how many conflicts. The clock above him chimed one o'clock. The noise echoed out through the empty square and he decided he may as well go for a walk. He crossed the road after looking both ways and wandered down one of the main streets.

Gabriel started to whistle a cheerful tune to himself as he passed the various stores and commercial buildings. The town was pretty quiet considering its size and that it was a Saturday. He thought that humans couldn't stop shopping when it came to the weekend.

Or maybe that was just in Paris and Milan, he pondered.

After half an hour of walking up the steady hill he came to a halt. His calf muscles ached in a way he had never experienced before. He had to sit down and take a break. He found a small bench towards the top of the hill. It was wooden and he sat down on it gratefully.

Across the pedestrianised road he saw a couple of people move about inside a florist. The front of the building was brick like the others but the window held various flowers of different species and designs. Behind those was a net curtain that went half way up the window shielding the rest of the flowers from his view although he was able to see into the main shop above the curtain. He saw a couple of women talking and laughing with each other. One was an older woman chatting to a much younger woman who was probably only around twenty five.

A door opened behind him. He cast a curious glance over his right shoulder and noticed that it was a cake and pastry store and a few teenagers came out carrying sweet pastry treats. A familiar scent was carried through the air to him and he began to chew on his lower lip. The usual craving had decided to raise its head. The tender urge that seemed to come from his very teeth started to grow. The freshly baked cakes, muffins and pastries in the window taunted and tortured him. They looked so appealing.

Gabriel huffed as he turned back around. Usually he would just click his fingers and whatever he desired would show up right in front of him. He didn't have to deal with cravings. They were just a human thing, as Lucifer would say 'proof of their inequality'. Not that he believed in that racist trash. He began to knaw on his lip as he tried to think of something to take his mind off of it. Sadly, nothing did.

A bell sounded and the two women walked out of the shop directly in front of him. They were the two women that he had noticed before.

As the older one closed the door she said in a sing song voice, "every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings!"

"I love how you have the urge to say that every time," the other rolled her eyes and laughed.

"When you get to my age you'll realise that you're past caring," she commented with a smirk. The woman was indeed older than he had first thought. She was more than likely sixty five. She was little and plump with short blonde hair.

Her friend shook her head, "I hope never to get to your age, Margret."

"That's what I thought but then I decided that I wanted grandchildren!" she threw her head back and laughed before locking the door and handing the set of keys over to the other one, "now remember that I'll be back at two thirty."

"I know," she sighed and placed the keys in the brown leather bag hanging on her shoulder, "I have any problems I'll call you straight away."

"I knew I hired you for a reason," she kindly rubbed the woman's arm, "how are you doing?"

"Better thanks."

With that the women parted ways. The older one who had been called Margret toddled off down the hill into the centre of town while the younger one rubbed her forehead for a second watching her go. Her hand fell to her side and she looked over. Not at him, he realised, but at the shop behind.

Gabriel could have sworn that her eyes brightened and a smile crept onto her face as she walked over. He watched her as casually as he could and she didn't even blink in his direction as she passed.

"Huh, since when has a cute chick ever blanked me?" he murmured as she went into the store.

The same scent hit him again. This time the craving became so furious that he knew that he had to get something with sugar in it. Maybe sitting here hadn't been the best option after all. He pouted and stood up before going into the store himself.

_-EOTE-_

When he entered the store he saw that the counter was at the back of the room with cakes and all other manner of sweet, sugary treats scattered around. The woman was busy talking to the man working behind the counter while rummaging around in her bag for something.

"So what can I get you today?" the man asked with a smile. He was obviously a college student and couldn't help but flirt with an older woman, "you know I wonder why you come in here every day."

"You do?" she mused.

Gabriel looked around and slowly began to advance towards the pair of humans.

He nodded leaning forward towards her, "is it just my presence that keeps drawing you back here?"

There was a slight awkward silence.

"Tom, I never took you for being a flirt!"

He smirked, "well I do have needs."

She shook her head, "you're a kid. Seriously, chase girls who still compete in wet t-shirt competitions at spring break."

His ears perked and he moved to being directly behind her. This chick had been in a wet t-shirt competition?

"I bet you won all the ones that you entered," the kid tried to sweet talk her.

"That's none of your business, Tom!"

"Ahh, if only it was..."

She finally noticed him lurking behind her. She turned to face him turning slightly red at the topic of conversation he had overheard.

"Oh," she smiled sheepishly at him. She gushed, "Sorry, look you go ahead. I'm having trouble choosing."

He raised an eyebrow at her, taking her in for the first time. She was average height and possibly an inch lower than him. Her light brown hair was tied up in a classical style bun at the back of her head with small curls of hair falling either side of her green eyes. Her skin was pale and faint freckles were scattered over her nose and cheeks. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans along with a pair of ballet style pumps. Her jacket did nothing to hide the slim waistline and firm breasts that his eyes swarmed to like a bee to honey.

He looked back up to her face and his eyes lingered on her soft baby pink lips as he replied, "I' m fine. You go ahead."

She smiled, "go on. I'll be here forever."

Gabriel pouted and turned to the counter in front of him. Behind the curved glass the tarts, cream cakes, muffins and pastries taunted him. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants. He could feel only lint and a few bottle caps that he had been planning to turn into some miniature versions of the Eiffel Tower for the pure fun of it.

"Look bud. Are you going to buy something or what?" the guy glared over at him.

He met his eyes with his own. This was another guy that he had to add onto his karma list. That thing was getting larger and larger by the hour.

"Tom!" she exclaimed, "What did your Mom tell you about talking to customers like that?"

He merely rolled his eyes impatiently refusing to answer her.

Gabriel sighed keeping a civil tongue, "I've forgotten my wallet."

Tom held his hands up and shrugged, "what are you doing here then?"

The woman pursed her lips, "just get me some damn chocolate éclairs."

"How many sweetie?"

"Three please."

"Three?"

"Yes. Is that too difficult?"

The kid finally did his job and got the lady three éclairs like she had asked him to in the first place. He got a pair of metal tongues and began to place the three treats into a paper bag.

The woman turned to Gabriel, "I'm sorry. He's a dick unless you have a vagina."

"No kidding," he scoffed.

"This glass doesn't stop me hearing things." The guy commented when he handed the small bag over to the woman.

She passed him a five dollar bill, "I know. Keep the change, kid."

"I'm nineteen."

She smiled charmingly at him, "like I said, _kid_."

He sucked in the air through his lips and shook his head. He was clearly annoyed but Gabriel guessed that's why he liked the chick. She was a challenge in his eyes.

"See you on Monday, Tom," she said to him and walked to the door. She stopped in her tracks and turned around with a puzzled look on her face. She directed a question at Gabriel, "Do I know you?"

His eyebrows raised and he almost took a step back. He shook his head, "No. I'd remember a face like yours, sweetheart."

Her brow creased causing her eyebrows to meet. She appeared to try and say something but she couldn't quite get the words out. In the end she gave up and said something else, "Sorry. You just look really familiar."

"I do?"

"Yeah, you do," She nodded and her lips formed a gentle smile. She looked at the paper bag she was carrying in her hand. She held it out to him, "do you want one?"

"Oh." He started not really sure how to continue, "you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. There's only me and Margret working in the store. I was saving one until later but I just don't feel like it anymore."

"Okay then."

The woman walked back over to join him and fished inside the paper bag for one of the éclairs. She asked the kid behind the counter for another bag and he gave her one rather reluctantly. She wrapped one of the cakes in the bag and handed it to him while placing her own two cakes into her bag.

"There you go," her lips smiled at him but it didn't reach her eyes. They looked as if her attention had diverted somewhere else.

"Thanks."

She smiled at him again. Before she could say anything she rubbed the side of her head. Her fingers massaged the scalp in small circular motions trying to soothe some pain that Gabriel was unaware of. After a few seconds she winced and her eyes snapped shut as she continued to rub.

"Are you okay?" Gabriel asked placing a tentative arm on her shoulder.

Her eyes flew open and she took a step back. Her eyes were wide and for a moment they appeared to be terrified. This died down and they returned to their calm state. She stopped rubbing her head and rummaged around for something in her bag.

"I'm fine." She answered quickly, "It's just a headache."

"It seemed a bit sudden," he commented.

"I suffer from them," she told him sharply as she continued searching for something.

Tom had heard that her voice had risen. He came over to join the two, "Are you okay, Ness? Has this guy upset you?"

"No. He hasn't." She told them both, "I've just got a headache."

Finally her hand emerged from her bag holding a small blue box. She opened it and popped two of the small round pills out of the plastic before swallowing them. She wobbled on her feet for a second before steadying herself.

The teenager had moved out to try and catch her. He wouldn't let go of her arms.

"Let go of me," she told him almost batting him off with her hands, "I'm fine. It's just a headache. I get them all the time."

"I don't think that's a good thing," Gabriel commented under his breath. He knew that any human getting headaches as sudden and as regular as that had some problems that could only be solved by seeing a doctor.

"Like I said I'm fine." She reiterated. She took a deep breath and looked at both men, "thanks for being concerned anyway. I have to get back to work."

She turned on her heel and left the cake store. She trotted across to the flower store as quickly as she could and Gabriel couldn't help but let his eyes wander. Even though he was in a predicament that should require his entire attention he just couldn't help it. He wanted to know more about the chick.

He felt the eyes of the college student glaring at him. If it was possible he was pretty damn sure that the kid wanted to burn holes into his very skull. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat before giving a sly smile and walking out of the store himself.

_-EOTE-_

An hour later Gabriel was sitting on the same wooden bench that he had been before he had ventured into the cake store and he watched the world go by for a little while. He had also decided to keep an eye on the curious little human florist.

She touched her head occasionally as she continued to work. She had just dealt with a couple of people and was currently arranging a large flower display in a vase. He didn't know what the flowers were called but he knew by their colour and quality that they were expensive.

"Probably for a wedding," he mused quietly to himself.

He was sat at one end of the bench with his left arm resting along the top panel of wood. The town was starting to die down now. That meant that the already quiet town was slowly turning into one of those ghost towns that were in those Scooby-Doo cartoons. He wondered when a monster in a mask was going to chase him down the street.

His thoughts wandered back to his problem. He threw his head back and sighed. He watched the grey clouds roll by on the breeze as he tried to think.

He couldn't remember anything after Dean saw him in the Impala and he ushered him over. Why couldn't he remember?

"Maybe Dad pulled one of his tricks," he wondered aloud then dismissed the thought entirely. It was unlikely that he would do anything to save the son that had run away from home all those years ago and broken every commandment in the black book just because he'd felt like it. Another thought occurred to him, "Maybe one of the Gods did something?"

That would fit better he summarised. They hated him before and then they had attempted to kill him after Kali found out who he really was. Perhaps they hadn't figured out how to really kill him so they just dumped him in the middle of nowhere with no memory and no powers?

That brought him to another fact. His powers were gone. What actually had the power to take away his own power? Heck, he was an archangel. No one was supposed to be able to do that apart from someone stronger than him which left Michael, Raphael and Lucifer.

"And Dad," he tacked on to the end of his thoughts.

Hadn't Kali mentioned something about summoning his big brother down so they could all hack it out and decide the outcome of the entire planet that way?

They had. He knew that if they summoned Lucifer then he may have taken away his power but maybe would not have wanted to kill him. That was possible.

He sighed and brought his head back down so he could see the street again. It was useless and he knew it. He was clutching at straws, chasing trails of smoke and he wasn't getting a good answer. He just couldn't remember and he needed his memory to figure out why and how he got where he was.

The wind picked up a little and he noticed the brown paper bag sitting next to him on the bench. He had eaten the cake as soon as he had sat down but he just hadn't been bothered enough to get up, roam around for a trash can and to come all the way back. He didn't want to stop watching the woman in case something happened. He could sense it in his heart that something wasn't right.

An idea sprung into his head and he eyed the paper with a smirk. He set it down in front of where he was sat on the ground and glanced around quickly. He started to stare hard at the bag. His lips pursed and beads of sweat started to form on his forehead. The bag began to twitch at one corner.

He tried a little harder and tried to move the rest of the bag. It rustled loudly but there was no wind blowing at the time. After a few moments he managed to send it packing down the hill against the wind when it did occasionally blow.

An old woman walking up the street watched it in confusion and awe before checking the wind direction. He noticed her looking and quickly broke concentration.

He took a deep breath. He hadn't been sure just how much effort he had to put into doing something now. But at least he still had some of his power left. He definitely had more power than he had done earlier when he was in the freeway. He pondered whether his powers would just come back by themselves.

A voice cackled next to him, "Don't stretch yourself too much. You don't want to pull something."

Gabriel's head whipped around to see a middle aged man sat next to him on the bench. His hair was dark and thinning on top. He noticed that he had dark eyes that weren't at all kind. He was wearing a suit and long coat. He didn't sound local.

"Let me introduce myself," the man started. He adjusted his tie, "the name's Crowley."

He was British. He could place the accent now. He looked again at the man and realised that there was something odd about him. If he concentrated he could see a grey mass withering under almost translucent skin with dark black pit holes for eyes.

"You're a demon," Gabriel stated lightly. He wasn't used to dealing with demons. He tried to stay out of their way as most of the older ones could identify him and give him away, "what do you want?"

"Not you if that's what you're thinking," he scoffed, "No offence but I have to say you're a bit of a letdown after everything that's been said about you."

He said nothing back and cast the demon a steely glare. He waved his hand as a signal for him to continue with whatever he was going to say.

"I want her." Crowley nodded across the street at the flower store with the one woman inside, "you've met her, haven't you?"

He shook his head, "No."

"Oh I'm sure you did just in the-"

"I mean," He growled, "you're not having her."

"Why ever not?"

"Do I really need to answer that?" he sniped.

"Don't you want to know why we want her?" the demon sat back and mused to himself. He watched her, "she's special."

"What?"

"She's useful to us," he flashed a smile with yellowing teeth showing underneath the pearly white. "If you had your power you would know all of this already."

"You're still not having her," he told him.

"Oh I think we will. In one way or another, we'll have her."

When Gabriel turned to snarl at the demon he realised that he had vanished. There was no way he was going to leave the woman alone now.


End file.
